​ZeroAvia and PowerCell are expanding their joint work on fuel cell technology with a view to meeting higher energy needs of hydrogen-powered fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft. The companies, which have been collaborating since 2022, signed a new memorandum of understanding on October 29, announcing that they will work on next-generation fuel cells for hydrogen-electric powertrains.
Sweden-based PowerCell is already providing fuel cells for the 600-kilowatt ZA600 propulsion system that ZeroAvia is developing for aircraft with up to 20 seats. It submitted a certification application for the ZA600 unit in late 2023.
These low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells form part of a multi-stack powertrain architecture that ZeroAvia is now scaling up for the 2-megawatt ZA2000 system. This is intended for airliners with between 40 and 80 seats, such as the ATR72 and Dash 8 Series 400.
3kW/kg Power Density Coming SoonAccording to ZeroAvia, it has already achieved a power density of above 2.5 kilowatts per kilogram. The company, which has engineering teams in both the U.S. and UK, said it is on track to exceed 3 kW/kg in the next few months.
One key objective is to increase the operating temperature of fuel cells to reduce the amount of cooling and humidification needed. ZeroAvia said this would simplify the required powertrain architecture and improve the amount of power generated for a given unit of weight.
“We’re confident that the first hydrogen-electric aircraft will be flying commercially in the upcoming years,” said PowerCell CEO Richard Berkling. “When that happens, it will have a snowball effect as the environmental and operating cost benefits become clear to airlines and their passengers. For PowerCell, this is a key future market, and we are delighted to be deepening our partnership with the leader in this space to develop solutions to enable more clean flights, removing emissions.”

After the world posted its worst year for wildfires, with an area roughly the size of Nicaragua scorched in 2023, one plane model has become the most important aircraft on Earth.   A specialized amphibious firefighting plane — commonly called a Canadair after its original manufacturer — is unique in the market for its size and maneuverability. It can hold as much as 1,621 US gallons (6,137 liters) of water — about 20 bathtubs full — and travel at more than 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour). In a quick swoop, the planes scoop up water from lakes or seas — filling up in 12 seconds — and fly as low as 100 feet (30 meters) above burning infernos to douse flames.

​As climate change makes wildfires more frequent and intense around the world, these acrobatic water-bombers are needed now more than they’ve ever been before. Yet they were out of production for almost 10 years. This has now changed.


De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd., which acquired the rights to the aircraft in 2016, reached new agreements with European Union countries this year to provide 22 DHC-515 firefighter planes, the brand successor of the Canadair. The order will be the first time De Havilland makes these €50 million ($55 million) planes. While production won’t finish until the end of 2026 at the earliest, the EU is willing to wait for a firefighting plane considered incomparable to anything else available.


“The so-called Canadair is the only functioning, operational aircraft in that category in this moment of time,” Hans Das, deputy-director general for European civil protection and humanitarian aid operations at the European Commission, said in an interview. “Over the last few years, we have seen forest fires expanding into all of Europe. Nobody escapes anymore.”

Wildfires have been raging across the continent this year — most ferociously in Greece and Turkey — as the world recorded its hottest summer ever. Across the Atlantic, Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has been on fire, wafting toxic smoke into the country’s largest city Sao Paulo in recent weeks. In North America California battled one of its worst wildfires on record in July and blazes have raged across De Havilland’s home province of Alberta. Fires were still smoldering under the snow in Canada in March after unprecedented wildfires in 2023.


Most firefighters are on the ground during a wildfire, but planes play an important role in helping dowse fires with water or stopping the spread with retardant.


“As fires continue to increase both in number of fires and in the scale, there is just more and more need for aerial firefighting assets to help support those firefighters on the ground so they don’t get their butt kicked,” Paul Petersen, executive director of the United Aerial Firefighters Association, said in an interview.


Petersen estimates the world needs twice the amount of firefighting aircraft currently available to meet demand.


Riva Duncan, a retired fire chief with the US Forest Service, agreed that demand has been exceeding aircraft availability. “The growing number of fires we’re having, the lengthening of the fire season into a fire year, larger, more destructive fires — we need every tool in the toolbox to be able to manage these fires and aircraft’s a big part of that,” she said. 


Quebec-based Bombardier Inc., the previous manufacturer of the Canadair planes, sold off the unit in 2016 as it dealt with a series of financial difficulties. From 2015 until the new EU order, the firefighter planes had been out of production.


De Havilland first discussed restarting production of the planes in 2019, but due to the high costs, it needed a firm commitment of a minimum number to get their suppliers on board for parts, according to Neil Sweeney, De Havilland vice president of corporate affairs. He said the EU’s order for 22 planes was enough to start things up again.


The EU started looking at expanding its aerial firefighting fleet in 2020 — taking on board supply chain lessons learned during the Covid pandemic. With fires happening simultaneously across the continent, the bloc found sharing resources across countries does not work if there aren’t enough planes.
​

“When everybody is facing the same difficulty, then the system gets paralyzed,” Balazs Ujvari, a spokesperson for the European Commission, said in an interview. “If your house is burning then you cannot also help the neighbor’s house that is burning.”


For this fire season, the EU has access to 26 firefighting planes from nine member states.


De Havilland said there are approximately 160 Canadair planes in operation in 10 countries: Turkey, Morocco, Canada, the US, France, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Greece and Malaysia. There are other aircraft capable of water bombing, but they either hold less extinguishing agent or they’re good for one big drop before needing to return to a station for a slower refill. Canadairs, on the other hand, can circle back and skim an open body of water again and again, refilling almost at full speed. 


While countries around the world have made regional deals to share aerial firefighting resources, including lending out aircraft during off-seasons for wildfires, climate change has been making this a logistical nightmare. Countries are dealing with longer fire seasons and places that previously didn’t have many fires are seeing them more regularly.


This is one reason De Havilland expects to see more demand for firefighting aircraft in the future. The other is that many countries will be keen to upgrade aircraft in their fleet — which may be up to 50 years old. Over time, planes that scoop salt water can suffer from corrosion, and in warmer climates they may begin to rust.


The new DHC-515 aircraft will have similar water capacity to its predecessor, but will have a few upgrades. These include improvements to the water drop control system, the avionics, the rudder control and the air conditioning. 


Mike Flannigan, a research chair in emergency management and fire science at Thompson Rivers University, said De Havilland may have cornered a market for these types of planes now, but other manufacturers will likely sense an opportunity as wildfires become a more difficult problem for countries to tackle.


“I expect they might get some competition eventually if this market continues to grow,” he said.

Like Tom Cruise's "Maverick" character in "Top Gun," Boom Supersonic is feeling the need for speed.
The Colorado company has received a first-of-its-kind approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to exceed Mach 1 during test flights of its XB-1 supersonic jet. These flights are slated to occur sometime this year within the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor in Mojave, California.
The sleek, delta-shaped XB-1 took its maiden flight on March 22, 2024 from the Mojave Air & Space Port, and now it's free to go supersonic at Boom's California complex when fully ready.
"Following XB-1's successful first flight, I'm looking forward to its historic first supersonic flight," said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. "We thank the Federal Aviation Administration for supporting innovation and enabling XB-1 to continue its important role of informing the future of supersonic travel."

This next phase of test flights will play out inside the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor, as well as a segment of the nearby High Altitude Supersonic Corridor within the designated R-2515 airspace, an area well known for research and military supersonic aeronautical operations.
During the XB-1's inaugural mission last month, the jet was piloted by Boom Chief Test Pilot Bill "Doc" Shoemaker, while Test Pilot Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenburg was at the controls of a T-38 Talon chase aircraft, which observed and monitored the XB-1 for safety while aloft. 
"Being in the air with XB-1 during its maiden flight is a moment I will never forget," said Brandenburg in a Boom press statement. "The team has been working hard to get to this point, and seeing [that] flight through mission completion is a huge accomplishment for all of us."


Now the team is eager to conduct a second flight, which will test the jet's landing gear, among other hardware.
"We anticipate taking it up to 16 degrees AOA (angle of attack), and will also evaluate the sideslip, which will expand the envelope in order to give us a little bit more margin on a nominal landing," Brandenburg said. "It will also be the first time the 'dampers' — or stability augmentation system — is used."
Boom plans to expand the XB-1's flight envelope prior to going supersonic, to analyze performance and handling abilities through and beyond Mach 1. Ten to 20 "hops" are in order prior to any milestone supersonic jaunts over the desert, company representatives said.
"Right now, the plan is multiple supersonic flights. We plan to do Mach 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 on the first three," Brandenburg said. "The reason for that is each one of those points takes so much airspace that you only have time to do one of them, so we will be on condition for several minutes; we'll get a flying qualities and handling qualities block, and have to come back home."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will keep the beleaguered Boeing 737-9 Max planes grounded until it approves the aircraft manufacturer’s inspection and maintenance process.
The FAA said the planes will remain grounded until it approves an “extensive and rigorous inspection and maintenance process.” The agency said it currently needs “additional data” from Boeing after reviewing the company’s proposed inspection instructions.
“We are working to make sure nothing like this happens again,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. “Our only concern is the safety of American travelers and the Boeing 737-9 MAX will not return to the skies until we are entirely satisfied it is safe.”
As part of the initial inspections of their respective 737-9 Max fleets, both Alaska and United Airlines found loose bolts and hardware. Both airlines have canceled hundreds of flights since the incident. United told Travel + Leisure the airline typically schedules about 200 flights per day on the Max 9, while Boeing-related cancellations for Alaska could affect as many as 150 flights per day.
The planes were initially grounded after an Alaska Airlines 737-9 MAX aircraft suffered a dramatic mid-air blowout of a plug door panel on a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, on Jan. 5. Prior to the incident, the aircraft had reportedly been restricted from flying to Hawaii after a warning light possibly indicating a pressurization problem had lit up on three different flights.
"It is time to re-examine the delegation of authority and assess any associated safety risks," Whitaker said in an additional statement. "The grounding of the 737-9 and the multiple production-related issues identified in recent years require us to look at every option to reduce risk. The FAA is exploring the use of an independent third party to oversee Boeing’s inspections and its quality system."
Alaska welcomed the decision in a statement and said the carrier would “enhance our own quality oversight of Alaska aircraft on the Boeing production line.”

70-year-old California man is waiting quietly for officials from the Department of Defense (DoD) to contact him after he flew his private plane over Area 51 out of curiosity, the Daily Caller has learned.
The private pilot successfully flew over the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) inside the Nellis Air Force Base, a highly classified military installation commonly known as Area 51, and is now awaiting punishment from authorities, he told the DOA in multiple voice messages.


Flight log [Daily Caller obtained]

He flew over Area 51 in a slightly diagonal line around Emigrant Valley and Groom Lake inside Area 51, according to an open source flight record obtained by the Daily Caller. Area 51 airspace typically requires permission from air traffic control to enter because of its sensitive military contents.The Daily Caller identified the private pilot by using pilot registration records and cross referencing the model of the plane. The man in question confirmed his flight over Area 51 to the Daily Caller and said he did it to test “frequencies” in restricted air space.
He told the Daily Caller he mostly saw desert and mountains in the restricted air space, with no signs of UFOs or alien life forms. He said the plane was not intercepted by military aircrafts despite Area 51’s notorious sensitivity and military exercises.
The man expects to be in touch with the U.S. military because of the incident and believes his pilot’s license will be suspended after an extended bureaucratic process, he told the Daily Caller. The Caller is protecting his identity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The NTTR is a Major Range Test Facility Base (MRTB) where advanced military training and tactical development takes place alongside research for the DoD and Department of Energy, according to the Nellis Air Force base.

“There are several agencies that have jurisdiction over various parts of the Nevada Test and Training Range. The U.S. Air Force controls the airspace over the range and roughly 2.9 million acres of land withdrawn for military use. Various organizations including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior and private towns such as Rachel also manage portions of the land,” a spokesperson for the Nellis Air Force Base told the Caller in a statement.
“As a matter of practice, we do not discuss specific security measures. The Nevada Test and Training Range provides flexible, realistic and multidimensional battlespace to test and develop tactics as well as conduct advanced training in support of U.S. national interests; any attempt to illegally access the area is highly discouraged,” the spokesperson added.
The CIA first acknowledged the Area 51 testing site in August 2013 when the agency complied with a public records request from George Washington University scholars, Reuters reported.
Area 51 was developed by the CIA in the 1950s to test U-2 reconnaissance planes and it was later used during the Cold War to develop the Air Force’s stealth capabilities, the documents obtained by George Washington’s National Security Archive show.
The predecessor to the Department of Energy officially added Area 51 to its Nevada testing site with a 1958 land use order, records indicate. The area is located roughly 80 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada, and covers roughly 38,000 acres or 60 square miles of terrain.
Area 51 was hidden from the American public for decades and its secrecy has garnered widespread speculation surrounding the presence of potential UFOs and extraterrestrial life.
One example, the Roswell incident in 1947, revolved around a suspected UFO found outside of Roswell, New Mexico, that some believe was brought to Area 51 for testing and experiments. The reports of a flying saucer around Roswell generated mass speculation about UFOs at the beginning of the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union, according to the National Air and Space Museum.
The Roswell incident continues to be a source of theorizing and speculation, as shown by the History Channel’s August 2023 “UFO Hunters” episode centered around the suspected UFO sighting.
The FBI initially believes the flying saucer spotted in Roswell was a weather balloon with a radar attached to it, according to a 1947 memo from the FBI’s Dallas field office. The U.S. Air Force later investigated the Roswell incident in the 1990s and concluded the flying saucer was from a balloon research project.
In addition, the Air Force investigation found that claims of alien bodies observed in the desert were either the result of test dummies from the research project or a combination of mishaps that tragically took the lives of Air Force personnel.
Three witnesses testified in July before the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs
for a hearing related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), more commonly known as UFOs.
David Grusch, a whistleblower and former DoD employee, testified with two Navy veterans about suspected UAP encounters and the U.S. government’s alleged knowledge of them. Grusch also made explosive allegations surrounding the U.S. government’s alleged discovery of alien life forms and a widespread government coverup of such knowledge. His allegations remain uncorroborated.
The DoD launched a website in August with the goal of providing declassified photos and videos of resolved UAP cases in addition to other resources related to UAPs. The new website is run by the DoD’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office and was authorized as part of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
In late January and early February, a Chinese spy balloon flew over U.S. airspace for several days and traveled over sensitive military sites before being shot down at the direction of President Joe Biden. The balloon was made with commercial American technology and specialized Chinese equipment indicating it was part of a spy mission.
The DoD did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Seeing the interest to host the National Championship Air Races at each of these unique venues gives me great hope for the future of air racing,” said Fred Telling, CEO and chairman of the board for the Reno Air Racing Association. “We’re looking for our next home, somewhere we can celebrate many more anniversaries, so we’ve assembled an expert committee that is putting an extreme amount of care and diligence into choosing our next location.”
The bidders that responded to the request for proposals include:

• Casper, Wyo.                         ·Buckeye, Ariz.
• Pueblo, Colo.                         ·Roswell, N. Mex.
• Thermal, Calif.                       ·Wendover, Utah

The National Championship Air Races is a unique event that has called northern Nevada home since its founding in 1964, nearly 60 years ago. In the past 10 years alone, the event has attracted more than one million visitors to the region, generated more than $750 million for the economy and contributed significant aviation-related education and outreach to schools and non-profits all around the area.
The committee researching the bid submissions is made up of RARA personnel from all areas, including operations, safety, security, business development, and more. The race classes are also represented in the group and will continue to be an integral part of the selection process. At this point, the selection committee is thoroughly vetting the different proposals and will conduct site visits later this year. There are numerous factors to consider, but a few of the critical requirements for the event include considerable open land available for the racecourses, suitable runways, ramp, and hangar space, administrative and security facilities, as well as proximity to hotels, commercial airports, and restaurants.

“We only want to go through this process once and because of that, we’re going to make sure our next location is the best fit for the future of the air races,” said Terry Matter, board member and chairman of the selection committee. “Each of the bidders’ proposals were thoroughly prepared and completely addressed the RARA RFP requirements. We are so grateful for their initial attendance at the bidders’ conferences and at NCAR in September, and for the time and effort each one of them put into their proposal preparation. It is very exciting to know that our new home will be in one of these great cities. Soon our Site Selection Committee will visit these locations to further evaluate their ability to be the future host of the National Championship Air Races.”
A final decision is expected to be announced early next year as the organization prepares for a final air show in Reno in 2024 before moving to the new location in 2025. For more information and ways to support the organization, visit www.airrace.org.
About the National Championship Air Races
The National Championship Air Races are held every September just north of Reno by the Reno Air Racing Association, a 501(c)(3). The event has become an institution for Northern Nevada and aviation enthusiasts from around the world with seven racing classes, a large display of static aircraft and several military and civilian flight demonstrations. Independent economic impact studies show that the event generates as much as $100 million annually for the local economy. For more information on the National Championship Air Races, visit AirRace.org.

Daher has recently surpassed 500 deliveries of the TBM 900 series single turboprop. The milestone aircraft was handed over to a U.S. customer just ahead of NBAA-BACE 2023.
The TBM 900 was first introduced in 2014, following the production of 324 TBM 700s and 338 TBM 850s. The first of these aircraft—the TBM 700 initially developed jointly by Socata (formerly Morane-Saulnier) and Mooney—made its first flight on July 14, 1988. The more powerful TBM 850 first flew in 2005, shortly before Daher took a 70 percent stake in what had become Eads-Socata. It subsequently acquired the remaining 30 percent from Eads.
Notably, the TBM 900 ushered in winglets and a Hartzell five-blade scimitar propeller, among other improvements to the turboprop. The family evolved through the 930 (2016, a higher-end version with Garmin G3000 touchscreen cockpit), the 910 (2018, similar to the 900 with G1000 NXi avionics), and the 940 (2019, a derivative of the 930 with autothrottle and, from 2020, the Homesafe emergency autoland system).
Today the flagship is the TBM 960, which is powered by a PT6E-66XT turboprop with dual-channel digital electronic propeller and engine control. Following its unveiling in 2022, the TBM 960 has been a strong seller. Deliveries had reached 92 at the end of September, and more than 100 aircraft are on order. That equates to more than two years of production.

Ural Airlines A320 (reg. RA-73805), that will attempt a take-off from its current location, after the aircraft ran out of fuel and landed in a grass field on September 12th.
The airline confirmed the decision to make the Airbus A320 to takeoff form its current location


The airline is awaiting the delivery of lifts to carry out landing gear testing.
The plan also includes dismantling the seats to make the aircraft lighter.

A potential solution to carbon-free flying is inching closer to reality.
Since the start of this year, small planes equipped with hydrogen fuel cells have made their first test flights over the U.S. West Coast and the English countryside. The aviation startups ZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen now claim their novel aircraft will be ready to start flying commercially as early as 2025.
A new analysis suggests that, if the technology can scale, it could sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions for certain planes — and potentially lay the groundwork for decarbonizing broader swaths of the global aviation market.



Retrofitting a propeller plane with fuel cells and liquid-hydrogen tanks would result in a nearly 90 percent reduction in life-cycle emissions, compared to the original aircraft, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a nonprofit think tank. That’s assuming the hydrogen is made using only renewable electricity —not with fossil fuels, the way the vast majority of hydrogen is produced today.
Fuel cells work somewhat like batteries. On planes, hydrogen flows into the fuel-cell system and spurs an electrochemical reaction that produces electricity; this in turn drives electric motors and spins propellers. But barring a technological breakthrough, fuel cells can’t produce enough power to carry the large, long-distance aircraft that are responsible for the bulk of aviation’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Instead, the tech will likely be restricted to short-haul, turboprop airliners that can seat roughly 50 to 60 passengers and fly just a few hundred miles, such as the distance from New York City to Washington, D.C. Today’s turboprops represent about 1 percent of global passenger traffic.
Still, experts say fuel cells could help pave the way for larger and more powerful hydrogen models, including potentially jets with combustion engines that burn liquid hydrogen. Airbus and Boeing, the world’s top two aircraft makers, are both developing hydrogen technologies as the industry faces growing public pressure to address climate change.
“The introduction of the fuel-cell aircraft will be the testing ground for just generally using hydrogen in aviation,” Jayant Mukhopadhaya, aerospace engineer and a Berlin-based researcher for ICCT, told Canary Media. ​“How will it work at airports, how is the refueling going to happen, how does hydrogen get delivered, what safety concerns you’re going to have — all of those bits and pieces.”
Why hydrogen is gaining favor Around the world, commercial air travel accounts for over 2 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. That number is set to soar in the coming years as more oil-burning planes and more passengers hit the skies.
In the near term, airlines and plane manufacturers are working to curb emissions by designing more fuel-efficient engines, electrifying ground operations and increasing their use of ​“sustainable aviation fuel” made from used cooking oil, forestry residues, carbon dioxide and other feedstocks. Last year, alternative fuels accounted for less than 0.1 percent of the total jet fuel used by major U.S. airlines.
Although plant- and waste-based fuels can be cleaner to produce than petroleum-based fuel, they still emit carbon dioxide when burned in engines. Hydrogen does not — that’s why airlines and manufacturers are joining efforts to develop H2-powered aircraft. Fuel cells in particular don’t generate harmful nitrogen oxides or fine particulate matter, since they don’t burn fuel.
A retrofitted fuel-cell aircraft would emit about one-third less CO2 over its lifetime than an aircraft burning ​“e-kerosene,” a type of sustainable aviation fuel made from electricity, water and carbon dioxide, according to the ICCT analysis.

Hydrogen, especially of the ​“green” variety, costs significantly more to make and buy than conventional kerosene. However, because fuel-cell systems are far more energy-efficient than engines, aircraft don’t need to use as much fuel to fly. If green-hydrogen production ramps up and fuel-cell aircraft catch on, it could be cheaper to refuel with H2 than fossil jet fuel in the United States in 2050, the ICCT said in a white paper published on Wednesday.
“The most surprising part was the [energy] efficiency impacting the price of fuel,” Mukhopadhaya said. ​“That was something we weren’t expecting.”


Hydrogen aviation takes first flightsZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen, both headquartered in California, have spent the first half of 2023 testing and demonstrating some of the world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft.
In January, ZeroAvia first launched its 19-seat prototype plane at Cotswold Airport, a private airfield near the English village of Kemble surrounded by farms and grazing sheep. The blue-and-white Dornier 228 has now flown 10 times, hitting key milestones and enabling the company to begin the next phase of flight testing.
ZeroAvia, which has raised over $140 million from investors including United Airlines and American Airlines, retrofitted one side of its twin-engine turboprop with fuel cells and batteries, which can reach a maximum power of 600 kilowatts. The other side kept its oil-burning jet engine. Over the course of six months, the aircraft reached a maximum speed of 150 knots, flew to a height of 5,000 feet and performed an endurance test for 23 minutes.
“There was no malfunction of the fuel cell during the flight-test campaign,” Gabriele Teofili, ZeroAvia’s head of aircraft integration and testing, said on a recent call from the airport’s hangar, tilting his laptop to show the prototype parked behind him.
Teofili said the company successfully demonstrated to the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority that the hydrogen-electric system behaved as expected — and that the aircraft has enough range to fly to another nearby airport. ZeroAvia is now preparing to begin its first cross-country flights in England before the end of this year. It’s also working to retrofit a second regional turboprop in Washington state, in partnership with Alaska Airlines.
“The idea is to demonstrate that it’s not only possible, but it’s safe, it’s reliable, and it’s profitable,” Teofili said of the hydrogen aircraft. He noted that ZeroAvia plans to shed the batteries and engines that it’s using during testing to deliver a final aircraft powered only by a 1.8-megawatt fuel cell. The company claims it’s on track for commercial operations in 2025, starting with a nine- to 19-seat aircraft with a 300-mile range.


Meanwhile, Universal Hydrogen says it’s making progress on an even bigger retrofitted turboprop. The company has raised at least $82.5 million from investors such as GE Aviation, American Airlines and the venture capital arms of Airbus, JetBlue and Toyota.
In March, the Los Angeles–based startup launched its first test flight from a small airport near Moses Lake, Washington. Its 40-passenger Dash 8 prototype has one original engine, plus a 1.2-megawatt fuel cell and 800-kilowatt electric motor, with no batteries.
Mark Cousin, Universal Hydrogen’s CTO, said the aircraft has flown nine total times, including a series of trips from Washington down to Mojave, California, where the plane now resides. The prototype climbed up to 10,000 feet high, hit speeds of 170 knots, and operated for more than an hour in flight. The company is continuing to test key elements of the hydrogen powertrain, including the cooling system that keeps the fuel cell from overheating — a challenge that can limit the technology’s performance and range.
Universal Hydrogen is also preparing to ground test a 2 MW powertrain on an ATR 72 turboprop, which could begin flight-testing in 2025, Cousin said. The company aims to enter a hydrogen-fueled aircraft into passenger service later that year or in early 2026.
Both ZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen are using hydrogen in its gaseous form to power fuel cells during flight testing, though the companies plan to use liquid hydrogen eventually. The fuel is less widely available today, but it packs more energy on a volume basis than gaseous H2 and can be stored in fewer, lighter tanks on the aircraft.
Along with retrofit conversion kits, Universal Hydrogen is also developing liquid-hydrogen storage capsules. The idea is to collect hydrogen from electrolyzer plants, which use water and renewable electricity to produce ​“green” hydrogen — and today remain few and far between. Trucks or trains would then transport the capsules to airports.
Cousin said the company’s ultimate goal is to convince airlines and major airplane manufacturers that it’s possible to develop the necessary infrastructure for powering larger hydrogen-burning aircraft. Airbus, for instance, is building a demonstration engine to test hydrogen propulsion in one of its A380 superjumbo jets.
“The real objective is to demonstrate not only that we can fly a [turboprop] on hydrogen, but also to demonstrate that hydrogen propulsion…is a viable solution for short- to medium-range operations,” he said.